Tom Conway

Show Count: 49Series Count: 2Role: Old Time Radio StarBorn: 15 September 1904Old Time Radio, St. Petersburg, RussiaDied: 22 April 1967, Culver City, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Tom Conway(15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film and radio actor.

Early life

Conway was bornThomas Charles Sandersto English parents inSt. Petersburg, Russia. His younger brother (b. 1906) was fellow actorGeorge Sanders.Their younger sister, Margaret Sanders, was born in 1912. At the outbreak of theRussian Revolution (1917), the family moved back to England, where Conway was educated atBedales SchoolandBrighton College.

Career

While working as a contract player forRKO Pictures, Conway starred in threeVal Lewtonhorror films. He played Dr. Louis Judd in two otherwise unrelated films (1942'sCat Peopleand1943'sThe Seventh Victim), despite the character having been killed inCat People. The third Lewton film in which he starred wasI Walked with a Zombie(1943). Conway is perhaps best remembered for playing "The Falcon" in ten of the series' entries, taking over for his brother Sanders inThe Falcon's Brother, in which they both starred. On radio, Conway played Sherlock Holmes during the 1946–1947 season ofThe New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, followingBasil Rathbone's departure from the series. In spite of a similar vocal timbre, Conway wasn't as well-received as Rathbone had been by audiences, and was replaced that season by John Stanley.

Conway's screen career diminished in the 1950s, but he appeared in a number of British films, as well as on radio and television. In 1951, he replacedVincent Priceas star of the radio mystery seriesThe Saint, a character which Sanders had portrayed on film a decade earlier. In 1956, the two brothers both featured (as brothers) in the filmDeath of a Scoundrel, though Sanders had the starring role.

From 1951–1954, Conway played debonair British police detective Mark Saber, who worked in the homicide division of a large American city, in theABCseries entitledInspector Mark Saber – Homicide Detective. In 1957, the series resumed onNBC, renamedSaber of London, withDonald Grayin the title role.

In October1957, Conway performed as Max Collodi in theAlfred Hitchcock Presentsepisode "The Glass Eye", to critical praise. His final television appearance was in 1964, playing the role of Guy Penrose in thePerry Masonepisode, "The Case of the Simple Simon."

Later life and death

In 1961, Conway provided his voice for Disney's101 Dalmatiansas a Collie who offers the dalmatians shelter in a barn, later guiding them home. His wife at the time,Queenie Leonard, voiced a cow in the barn.

Despite having made millions in his twenty-four-year film career, Conway later struggled to make ends meet. Failing eyesight and prolonged bouts with alcohol took their toll on him in his last years. His second wife (Leonard) divorced him in 1963, owing to his drinking problem, and his brother Sanders broke off all contact with him because of it.

Conway underwent cataract surgery during the winter of 1964–65. In September 1965, he briefly returned to the headlines, having been discovered living in a $2-a-day room in aVenice, Californiaflophouse. Gifts, contributions and offers of aid poured in for a time.

His last years were marked with hospitalizations. It was there that former sister-in-lawZsa Zsa Gaborpaid Conway a visit and gave him $200. "Tip the nurses a little bit so they'll be good to you," she told him. The following day, the hospital called her to say that Conway had left with the $200, gone to his girlfriend's house, and became gravely sick in her bed. It was 22 April 1967, and he died fromcirrhosis of the liverat the age of 62 due to alcoholism. His funeral was held in London.